Billerica member's complaint prompts change in LRTA policy

LOWELL -- A heated letter claiming that the Lowell Regional Transit Authority chairman violated state law will prompt a change in the board's policy for its disabled community and rider representatives.

The letter from Billerica member Al Ramos, sent to Department of Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack, cites a section of state law that requires the disabled community representative to alternate every year among the LRTA's 14 different towns.

David Ellington, of Lowell, has been the disability representative since 2013, according to Chairman Kevin O'Connor of Tyngsboro. A new member should have been appointed in October 2014, he said.

Ramos said that he brought the issue to O'Connor after a September meeting, and said O'Connor ignored his offer to write a new policy.

"I showed it to him and he just chose to ignore me and I'm just tired of it," said Ramos, who was the lone vote against making O'Connor the chair a few years back. "I'm trying to watch out for the people in Billerica that I represent."

Ramos said he first became aware of the issue after receiving complaints from Billerica residents about service.

"Although the reason for his lack of action is unknown to me, my lack of support in his nomination to be the chairman of the LRTA Board does not entitle him to display such arrogance and disdain for the rule of law," Ramos wrote in the letter.

Advertisement

Yet, O'Connor argued that parts of the letter were untrue, noting that he did listen to Ramos' suggestion after the meeting.

"I knew what I was going to do," he said. "I was going to put it on a future agenda which I had planned to do before his order."

At the board meeting on Thursday, O'Connor said he will suggest a policy that alternates the disabled community representative to every town alphabetically each year.

He will also suggest the same for the board's rider representative, which also needs to be alternated each year.

"I admit that it should've happened and as the chairman of the board for the last five/six years, I take the responsibility for that," O'Connor said. "But the good news is we have the best representatives that we could have."

He first wanted to see if he could keep those two members as a hold-over status, he said, but when he found out there was no such provision then he knew he had to put it on the agenda.

He also argued that minutes from September 2013, when that part of the state law was passed, show that he suggested alternating the members alphabetically by town.

The letter reveals a slight tension between Ramos and O'Connor.

"He doesn't like me, but I don't lose any sleep over it," O'Connor said. "I enjoy the support of the other 15 members."

Meanwhile, Ramos argues there is an "institutional arrogance" at the LRTA.

"I don't know how 12 people can sit around and know the law and totally ignore it. It's beyond me," he said. "Other than two or three of them that kind of more or less see my point of view or agree with it, the other nine, I don't know what planet they're on."

O'Connor said Ramos has consistently had a "chip on his shoulder" while on the board, but he never holds it against Billerica.

"He's got the right to write letters, he's got a right to put in whatever he wants," he said. "How can I dispute that?"

Ramos' letter also argues that O'Connor violated the law when he canceled a May meeting last year, which O'Connor said he had the right to do.

"I was under the impression that because I didn't have appointment letters from all of the 14 communities, I didn't think I could hold the meeting legally," he said.

At the next meeting, O'Connor said, legal counsel confirmed with the members that he had that authority under Open Meeting Law.

"But now, to make his two-page letter seem more viable, more important, he brings that same issue up -- that he put me on notice, that I'm in violation," O'Connor said. "Our counsel had already told him eyeball to eyeball, as well as the other voting members of the board, that I was within my authority."

Welcome to your discussion forum: Sign in with a Disqus account or your social networking account for your comment to be posted immediately, provided it meets the guidelines. (READ HOW.)
Comments made here are the sole responsibility of the person posting them; these comments do not reflect the opinion of The Sun. So keep it civil.